We have a maintenance contract provided by the seller. Every 6
months, the tech changes oil, oil filter, spark plugs, and air filter;
checks the sealed battery, battery charger, output voltage, output
frequency, and connections.

The service has been unreliable inasmuch as it always requires me to
call them to remind them that the service is overdue. This has
happened right from the beginning in 2005. They're always late.

But I've been afraid to fuss because, who else would perform these
services? I'm too old and wouldn't have a clue about the electrical
checks anyway. Do you think that an electrician would perform these
tasks, or is the changing of oil, plugs, filters beneath them? Yellow
pages advertises electricians who work with generators, but I think
that this refers to inside work on the generator's circuit breaker box
when needed.

If this generator is primarily for backup when an outage occurs, all
this maintenance is unnecessary. I run my generator once a month for 15
minutes. I only replaced the oil once (after 50 hours). I have never
replaced the spark plugs or done any of the other things you mentioned.
On the other hand, if this is a continuous source of power, then these
things should be done by someone who is familiar with the unit.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

Old and not too bright wrote:
We have a maintenance contract provided by the seller. Every 6
months, the tech changes oil, oil filter, spark plugs, and air filter;
checks the sealed battery, battery charger, output voltage, output
frequency, and connections.

The service has been unreliable inasmuch as it always requires me to
call them to remind them that the service is overdue. This has
happened right from the beginning in 2005. They're always late.

But I've been afraid to fuss because, who else would perform these
services? I'm too old and wouldn't have a clue about the electrical
checks anyway. Do you think that an electrician would perform these
tasks, or is the changing of oil, plugs, filters beneath them? Yellow
pages advertises electricians who work with generators, but I think
that this refers to inside work on the generator's circuit breaker box
when needed.

Well, if as long as they come even if called and do what is needed is
that really completely unacceptable? Granted, ought to be automagic but
if it gets the job done is the easy way out.

If you really want to look for a change, try giving one of those outfits
a call and ask; certainly nobody here can guess what any one there would
be willing to do.

I'd wonder unless this genset is running a lot that the mechanical
maintenance isn't far more frequent than needed other than the
operational checks; there would seem to be almost no actual hours on
most standby generators in six months. If it's other than standby of
course, that's something else.

--

Old and not too bright wrote:
We have a maintenance contract provided by the seller. Every 6
months, the tech changes oil, oil filter, spark plugs, and air filter;
checks the sealed battery, battery charger, output voltage, output
frequency, and connections.

The service has been unreliable inasmuch as it always requires me to
call them to remind them that the service is overdue. This has
happened right from the beginning in 2005. They're always late.

But I've been afraid to fuss because, who else would perform these
services? I'm too old and wouldn't have a clue about the electrical
checks anyway. Do you think that an electrician would perform these
tasks, or is the changing of oil, plugs, filters beneath them? Yellow
pages advertises electricians who work with generators, but I think
that this refers to inside work on the generator's circuit breaker box
when needed.

How much do you use this generator and what is it used for?

On 7/29/2010 12:30 PM, ---MIKE--- wrote:
If this generator is primarily for backup when an outage occurs, all
this maintenance is unnecessary. I run my generator once a month for 15
minutes. I only replaced the oil once (after 50 hours). I have never
replaced the spark plugs or done any of the other things you mentioned.
On the other hand, if this is a continuous source of power, then these
things should be done by someone who is familiar with the unit.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')


Big, pricey generator:

http://www.coloradostandby.com/catal...source=froogle

Probably cycles itself every month.

I have a gasoline generator that I also crank up now and then but
concern is making sure I get fresh gas through carburetor.

Doubt if op's unit needs all the service it's getting.

dpb wrote:

Old and not too bright wrote:
We have a maintenance contract provided by the seller. Every 6
months, the tech changes oil, oil filter, spark plugs, and air filter;
checks the sealed battery, battery charger, output voltage, output
frequency, and connections.

The service has been unreliable inasmuch as it always requires me to
call them to remind them that the service is overdue. This has
happened right from the beginning in 2005. They're always late.

But I've been afraid to fuss because, who else would perform these
services? I'm too old and wouldn't have a clue about the electrical
checks anyway. Do you think that an electrician would perform these
tasks, or is the changing of oil, plugs, filters beneath them? Yellow
pages advertises electricians who work with generators, but I think
that this refers to inside work on the generator's circuit breaker box
when needed.

Well, if as long as they come even if called and do what is needed is
that really completely unacceptable? Granted, ought to be automagic but
if it gets the job done is the easy way out.

If you really want to look for a change, try giving one of those outfits
a call and ask; certainly nobody here can guess what any one there would
be willing to do.

I'd wonder unless this genset is running a lot that the mechanical
maintenance isn't far more frequent than needed other than the
operational checks; there would seem to be almost no actual hours on
most standby generators in six months. If it's other than standby of
course, that's something else.

--

I would agree that the maintenance seems a bit excessive time wise, once
a year should be quite sufficient for a gaseous fueled standby unit
accumulating few hours beyond weekly or monthly exercise cycles. If the
area has frequent power outages causing the unit to accumulate operating
hours at a fair rate, six months might be reasonable.

As for the service performed, a couple quarts of oil, a filter and a
spark plug are perhaps $20, so it makes sense to just change them
proactively vs. try to keep track of engine hours and schedule a return
visit when you think the unit may have accumulated enough operating
hours to be at the next service interval.

Pete C. wrote:
....

As for the service performed, a couple quarts of oil, a filter and a
spark plug are perhaps $20, so it makes sense to just change them
proactively vs. try to keep track of engine hours and schedule a return
visit when you think the unit may have accumulated enough operating
hours to be at the next service interval.

But what's he paying in labor for the privilege of what probably isn't
needed would be a reasonable question to ask?

Again, if this is medical backup as gather it might possibly be, cost
may not be much of an issue but we don't have any way to know that...I'm
just raising the question for OP to consider since he raised the issue.

--

On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:36:13 -0500, dpb wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
...

As for the service performed, a couple quarts of oil, a filter and a
spark plug are perhaps $20, so it makes sense to just change them
proactively vs. try to keep track of engine hours and schedule a return
visit when you think the unit may have accumulated enough operating
hours to be at the next service interval.

But what's he paying in labor for the privilege of what probably isn't
needed would be a reasonable question to ask?

Again, if this is medical backup as gather it might possibly be, cost
may not be much of an issue but we don't have any way to know that...I'm
just raising the question for OP to consider since he raised the issue.

I'd say that 20-25 bucks a year is a reasonable expense to insure the
thing will perform when needed regardless if it backs up medical gear or
not. I do the same on my Deere LT155 15 horse Kohler even though it runs
little more than 50 hours a year. Well with the exception of the spark
plug.

Gives me the peace of mind that when I turn the key it's going to run
like new as it does and did the day it went into service in 2000. That's
not unreasonable is it?

Jeff The Drunk wrote:
On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:36:13 -0500, dpb wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
...

As for the service performed, a couple quarts of oil, a filter and a
spark plug are perhaps $20, so it makes sense to just change them
proactively vs. try to keep track of engine hours and schedule a return
visit when you think the unit may have accumulated enough operating
hours to be at the next service interval.
But what's he paying in labor for the privilege of what probably isn't
needed would be a reasonable question to ask?

Again, if this is medical backup as gather it might possibly be, cost
may not be much of an issue but we don't have any way to know that...I'm
just raising the question for OP to consider since he raised the issue.

I'd say that 20-25 bucks a year is a reasonable expense to insure the
thing will perform when needed regardless if it backs up medical gear or
not. I do the same on my Deere LT155 15 horse Kohler even though it runs
little more than 50 hours a year. Well with the exception of the spark
plug.

Gives me the peace of mind that when I turn the key it's going to run
like new as it does and did the day it went into service in 2000. That's
not unreasonable is it?

Not necessarily, no...but, that's not counting what purchased labor
might be and I'll repeat again we don't have enough info to know what
the deal is w/ OP's situation. If one is doing service oneself (which
OP said he can't), then it's a much less expensive proposition if cost
is a consideration (which we don't even know it is for certain).

An oil change and filter at greatly less than the recommended interval
is likely doing very little, if anything, to actually aid in the
reliability or longevity in reality, however, unless there is some
really unusual circumstance or conditions present. A plug after 50
hours is essentially new and the likelihood of an infant mortality
failure goes up in the replacement one that isn't _necessarily_ lowering
the overall failure rate at the next outage. It's a conundrum of
reliability that there's always a possibility of an induced fault as
well as the benefit...overall, preventative maintenance is a good idea,
granted, but at some point "enough is enough".

OP asked a question, I gave him a couple of thoughts to consider if
really looking at a change in his status quo. Unless the service he has
now is really exorbitant, as noted in original response he's probably
about as well of as to just keep it if the service appears adequate even
if does require a reminder call...

But, if he cares, I think the level of service is over that needed for
reasonable maintenance schedule but it's his call as to what he wants/is
comfortable with.

--

On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:19:58 -0500, dpb wrote:

Jeff The Drunk wrote:
On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:36:13 -0500, dpb wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
...

As for the service performed, a couple quarts of oil, a filter and a
spark plug are perhaps $20, so it makes sense to just change them
proactively vs. try to keep track of engine hours and schedule a
return visit when you think the unit may have accumulated enough
operating hours to be at the next service interval.
But what's he paying in labor for the privilege of what probably isn't
needed would be a reasonable question to ask?

Again, if this is medical backup as gather it might possibly be, cost
may not be much of an issue but we don't have any way to know
that...I'm just raising the question for OP to consider since he
raised the issue.

I'd say that 20-25 bucks a year is a reasonable expense to insure the
thing will perform when needed regardless if it backs up medical gear
or not. I do the same on my Deere LT155 15 horse Kohler even though it
runs little more than 50 hours a year. Well with the exception of the
spark plug.

Gives me the peace of mind that when I turn the key it's going to run
like new as it does and did the day it went into service in 2000.
That's not unreasonable is it?

Not necessarily, no...but, that's not counting what purchased labor
might be and I'll repeat again we don't have enough info to know what
the deal is w/ OP's situation. If one is doing service oneself (which
OP said he can't), then it's a much less expensive proposition if cost
is a consideration (which we don't even know it is for certain).

An oil change and filter at greatly less than the recommended interval
is likely doing very little, if anything, to actually aid in the
reliability or longevity in reality, however, unless there is some
really unusual circumstance or conditions present. A plug after 50
hours is essentially new and the likelihood of an infant mortality
failure goes up in the replacement one that isn't _necessarily_ lowering
the overall failure rate at the next outage. It's a conundrum of
reliability that there's always a possibility of an induced fault as
well as the benefit...overall, preventative maintenance is a good idea,
granted, but at some point "enough is enough".

OP asked a question, I gave him a couple of thoughts to consider if
really looking at a change in his status quo. Unless the service he has
now is really exorbitant, as noted in original response he's probably
about as well of as to just keep it if the service appears adequate even
if does require a reminder call...

But, if he cares, I think the level of service is over that needed for
reasonable maintenance schedule but it's his call as to what he wants/is
comfortable with.

Good answer (not that you needed my confirmation.) My response focused on
the 'comfort' of knowing that even if the service was unneeded, comfort
of mind was and was satisfied by being overly preemptive in service.
The monetary expense in this case is of little concern knowing a failure
of service isn't questioned because a lack of care. This is however based
on the unanswered question being if the OP is able to self serve the unit
for 20-25 bucks a year or paying for outsourced service at a considerable
increase in price.

On 7/29/2010 10:33 AM, Old and not too bright wrote:
We have a maintenance contract provided by the seller. Every 6
months, the tech changes oil, oil filter, spark plugs, and air filter;
checks the sealed battery, battery charger, output voltage, output
frequency, and connections.

The service has been unreliable inasmuch as it always requires me to
call them to remind them that the service is overdue. This has
happened right from the beginning in 2005. They're always late.

But I've been afraid to fuss because, who else would perform these
services? I'm too old and wouldn't have a clue about the electrical
checks anyway. Do you think that an electrician would perform these
tasks, or is the changing of oil, plugs, filters beneath them? Yellow
pages advertises electricians who work with generators, but I think
that this refers to inside work on the generator's circuit breaker box
when needed.


I used to service a lot of generators before I developed some of
my own maintenance problems. A generator like yours would usually
get checked or serviced once a year unless it was for someone quite
elderly or someone who had medical equipment then it was twice a year.
I setup a monitoring system for generators that had a local alarm
that would go off if the trouble light lit or alarm contacts in the
gen-set control panel closed. I also installed the circuit board from
a home alarm system panel inside the transfer switches to call an
alarm monitoring company whenever the generator ran/exercised or had
a trouble signal. I had a paper trail on performance and would get
a call from the monitoring company whenever a generator failed to
exercise at the expected time/date. There is much more sophisticated
real time monitoring that can be done via The Internet these days but
the old school POTS line dialup monitoring is very reliable. A great
number of HVAC companies of various skill levels have gotten into
the home generator market and are selling service contracts to mind
them. I don't know what area of the country you're in but there should
be more than one generator service outfit in your area.

TDD

Jeff The Drunk wrote:
....

... This is however based
on the unanswered question being if the OP is able to self serve the unit
for 20-25 bucks a year or paying for outsourced service at a considerable
increase in price.

That question wasn't unanswered -- the OP said he can't. Clearly, no
annual service fee is going to be $25/year, even if all they do is come
and see if the unit is still there.

--